Method of treating and forming artificial fuel



Oct. 16, 1928.

H. E. WETHERBEE 4 METHOD OF TREATING AND FORMING ARTIFICIAL FUEL Filed April 15, 1926 INVENTOR: HEz'bEz'tE ZIl/EifiEZ'bEE, @4 51 m ATTORNEY.

' vided fuel.

Patented on. 16,1928.

UNITED STATES,"

PATENT OF IY Q HERBERT E. WETHERBEE, on CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR crown-THIRD TQBICH- 'ARD r. GRANTAND one-rumpv :ronowaan M. IIANNA, {BOTH or CLEVELAND,"

OHIO.

METHOD OF TREATI G Ann FORMING .ARTIIEICIYAL rum 7 Application and Apri 1'13, 1926. Serial 1 1,639.

My invention relates to improvements in methods of treating and forming artificial fuel, and to the resultant fuel produced thereby the object of my invention being to produce. a fuel from small sizes of fuel materials such as anthracite or bituminous coals, lignite,

or other carbonaceous materials. Primarily, my invention thus far has been applied to coalescing various small sizes of anthracite in order to produce a 'fuel commercially avail- .able for domestic and other uses.

The present invention is not concerned with the particular mode of coalescing or of'briquetting the fuel, as commerciallypracticed, but relates primarily to the preliminary step or treatment of the subdivided fuel whereby.

the binding materialmav expeditiously'and cheaply be applied to the fuel particles-in order to produce a fuel that Will be satisface tory, not only for combustionv purposes'even after a considerable lapse of time, but illbe adapted for transportation. The requirements for these purposes are'distinctly different, in that 'a binding material afl'ording the requisite toughness for rough handling of the 'eompletedproduct, may notserve to-retain the particles in their coalesced state When subjected to the intense heat of the furnace,

and the converse is equally true. i

In the development of the art, many bindin materials have been suggested and a Wide variety thereof has actually been-used 1n the briquetting of fuels, but these present a Wide and varying range as to their cost, and more or .less unsatisfactorycharacteristics in applying such binding material to the subdi- Accordingly, my invention essentially has been directed toWjard'the ready an d econ'omical application of the binding material to the .fuel particles, Which advantageously may be P of varying sizes produced in the mining of a thracite or other coals. This improvement,

then, is based upon the application of any suitable binding material to the fuel particles by means of a filming carrier, and one preferably adapted to displace a moisture or placed byan. adherent film of oil.

may be evenly applied with the a m the-ma particle s. By thisl. do not mean that my invention necessarily is limited to the use of a filming oil,

since other fluids may be used'as a filming carrier for the binder. I

Hitherto, marked difficulty has been experie'nced'in all briquetting'proces'seswith which I am familiar in getting a suitable bindmg material into sufficiently intimate contact with the subdivided fuel or carbonaceous material preparatory to briquetting the same.

Usually this requiresa thorough dryingof the carbonaceous material before the binder to make contact therewith. Obviously, such drying operation requires the equi ment of an extensive plant therefor, and a ds materially to the cost of the product. i

My experience has shown that a relatively is applied, in" order to remove thewater coatin'g or'moisture' and thus permit the binder same to pressure. The difficulty with :presg ent commercial processes has been thflb the methods employed do not evenly distribute the binder over the fuel material, thereby requir ng an excessive amount ofbinder and'unduly increasing the cost of the product.

1 Accordingly, I have directed niy efforts to-; ard perfecting a method which will, first,

bring the selected binding material into inti- I mate contact With'the subdivided fuel Without drying the same, and, second, a method Whiehwill apply such binding material cheaply, evenly, and quickly over the particles of the fuel material, thereby effecting definite savings in operating and materialco'sts v The spreading action of o ls on wateris well known, even with respect to oils of marked viscosity. Moreover, sincecarbonaceous ma-' terial has a distinctly greater adheringjpo'wer for oil than for water, the Water adhering to immersed carbonaceous material will be distion of oil upon Water, I also have availed of This'prin the results of thorough agitation of the liquids and fuel material, whereby the oil and binding material are broken up into exceedingly small globules and distributed through out the immersed fuel material. with the re- Vsult that the filming or coating operation progresses rapidly through the immediate displacement of the surface covering of water upon the particles of the fuel material by the carrier and binder. Thus, it is rendered commercially practicable, and at normal tom 1 perature, to distribute a substantially uniform film of oil and binder, or of a dissolved 7 binding material, by agitation ofthe subdividecl carbonaccous'or fuel material in water to which the carrierand binder have been added.

The range of possible carriers and associated binders, obviously is considerable I cannot; attem t herein tofurnish an 1 adequate or exhaustive list. Nevertheless, I have selected some typical examples of applying material to sub-' varying amounts of binding divided fuel by means of suitably selected and treated carriers solvents or semi-solvents. As

indicated above, the binding material should "possess th e'qualities of producing a strongl adherent bricuette of firm toiwh tei-tture which will stand transporting to great distances, remain stable for months, and will not crack or crumble in firing the same. Such carrlers and binders may be applied to the fuel material in two ways- First: By mixing the binding material or materials with the oil or fluid carrier before agitating the same with the subdivided fuel and water,as indicated above, in which case the oil film'formed on the carbonaceous material carries with it the associated binding material or materials.

Second: By first forming the oil film on the carbonaceous material by suitable agitation, then draining off the excess water and treating the oil filmed carbonaceous material in a bath containing the selected binding material or materlal's; In this case the l inding material wlll be taken out of the bath by the adherent action of the oil film for the binding thereto, since my improvement contemplates the use of any suitable carrier in association or admixture with binding material or mateings I have employedythe same character'of the cylinder is rotated. 7

do not wish to be rials, or any suitable fluid binder of slight or' negligible miscibility with water, or any suitable binder dissolved in a suitable fluid carrier, any of which will produce a poten tially adherent film under the conditions of subjecting the immersed carbonaceous material thereto, without artificial drying,treating the same and briquetting or coalescing the fuel product. v

' I may also call attention to the difficulty which has heretofore been experienced in us ing varying sizes of carbonaceous material,

coarser than the so-called anthracite culni, for briquetting, because proper adhesion of these varying and irregularsizes could not be obtained satisfactorily, and such efforts as have been made along these lines resulted ina fuel that was commercially unsatisfactory, whereas, under my improved procedure herein described, this diliiculty is completely and satisfactorily overcome. i

I have shown somewhat diagrammatically in the accompanying drawings one means for practicing the methods herein described, wherein: i I

Figure 1 is'an end elevation of a rotatable cylinder or drum wherein the mixing andagi tation maybe effected; i 7

Fig. 2 is a side elevation thereof; I "Fig; 3 is a transverse section on'l'ine 3+3,

Fig; 2, generally indicating the fuel and wa-' ter levels, and

Fig. 41- is a longitudinal section thereof on line ll, Fig. 1.

Throughout the several figures of the drawreference to indicate similar parts.

in the somewhat diagrammatic showing herewith, the rotatable cylinder 0 is mounted on'stub-shafts's, rotatably supported byv the standards 8 andactuated by'the driven gear 9. Within the cylinder there are provided a plurality of baffles l) which are adapted toeleatethe'sub-divided fuel 7 above the level of the water a and its surface coating'a'of combi-ned carrier and binding material,through which the fuel particlesare permitted to fall The contents may be'supplied to the cylinder by means of tl'iechutes 0 when the hand Ill:

hole It is rotated to the upper position shown in .Fig. 2; this opening thereupon being tightly'closed to permit of the agltation of the contents by rotating the cylinder when it is fully charged, Obviously, upon such rotation, thorough agitation of the conte'nts'is effected, the subdivided fuel material f being carried up by thebaflles and dropped'through and agitated with the surface coating'a of carrier and agglutinating material for the purpose of enabling the particles of fuel to make frequent and practically continuous contact with the filmed and small particles o foil dis tributedonand throughout the water. This serves to effect an even distribution ofthe product.

carrier and the associated binder or agglutinating material throughout the entire'mass of the subdivided fuel. T

It will be understood, of course, that the proportionsin the drawing, and particularly, the stratum a of carrier and binding material, are merely illustrative, and do not represent operating conditions, relative. quantities or volumes, and sizes of subdivided fuel or mechanical parts.

As formulae exemplifying the practice of my instant invention, I may state that with a' given quantity of the finer breaker products of anthracite, comprising roughly a major imbedding content of culm and twenty per cent (20%) each of Nos. 1, 2 and 3 buckwheat, for example, I employ the various percentages by weight, of carrier and binding material or;

materials hereinafter indicated for producing briquettes ofsatisfactory strength and burning qualities. It should be explained, however, that no fixed proportions ofthe different sizes of anthracite are required, and that other fuel materials lend themselves equally well to the method of treatment for producing artificial fuels in accordance with my invention.

Premising the disclosure of a few typical formulae for employing associated carrier and ing an oxidizing, agglutinating oil, one p erv cent (1%) by weight of a mixture compris- 11g eighty per cent (80%) linseed oil and twenty per cent (20 kauri paste, or twenty per cent (20%) resin, in substitution for the latter, maybe successfully employed in practicing my improvement.

Approximately two per cent (2%) by weight of a carrier-binder comprising thirty per cent- (30 gilsonite dissolved in seventy per cent (7 0%) of gasoline, likewise may advantageously be substituted for the above. cent. (5%) of a" Approximately five per carrier-binder comprising. twenty-five per cent (25%) light blending oil from coal tar distillation, thirty-seven and one-half per cent (37 blown asphalt, and'thirty-seven and one-half per cent heavy refined tar or 190 pitch, also is adapted for practicing my invention. This mixture most advantageously is applied to the fuel particles in a bath of water initially heated approximately to the boiling point.

Again the subdivided fuel may first be larger percentage of thecomfilmed with V one-half 1 per cent by weight of linseed voil, after which theexcess Water may be drained oil and displaced-with a ten per cent (10%) solution of dextrine in water; both accompanied by agitatiomwhere 1 by the oil film serves as an efiective carrier forthe binder in question.-

It will be unnecessary to multiply these formulae, however, since it is sufficient toem phasize the need for employing a suitable car rier in small amounts forapplying'a binder or associated-binding materials to the moistened subdivided fuel evenly and quickly in order to coalesce or agglomerate the particles thereof when subjected to pressure; r

The binding materials indicated in the foregoin'g' examples not may are. found. to

possess sufficient" toughening} qualities "for transportation purposes, but said materials will burn approximately the same. Way as does theagglomerated fuel. In consequence,

briquettes can be produced in accordance with myinvention which are equallysatis-r factory for purposes of transportation and combustion, which is not the case wheresome classes of binders are used.

M instant rocess has the obvious advantages and econom1esof First elimination-of drying the carbonaceous material; I

Secondeven and continuous distribution of the binding-material onthe carbonaceous material in intimate contact therewith, thereby requiring the use of a. minimum amount of binding material and saving the expense of additional and unnecessary binder requireu under other methods and processes. Accordingly, the briquettes produced in accordance with my instant improvement are,

low in cost While satisfying every commercial requirement.

Having now described the preferred procedure for practicing my 1I1V6I1t1011,I claim as new and desireto secure by Letters Patent,

together with such modifications asto procedure, proportions and ingredients used, as may be supplied by one ordinarily skilled in the art,the following: i

1. The herein described method of treating subdivided fuel materials preliminaryto coalescing the same, which consists in subjecting a mass thereof in moistened condition to the action of afilming carrier and a binding material for the fuel, whereby the latter is evenly applied to the fuel particles, sub stantially as set forth.

2. In a method for treating subdivided fuel materials preliminary tocoalesc'ing the same, the step of subjecting the particles thereof to a filming material as a carrier, for a binder I and to an associated binding material adapted thereby evenly. to coatthe particles, substantially as set forth.

3. In a method for treating subdivided fuel material preliminary to coalescing the same,

the step of-subjecting the particles thereof Whilein moistened condition to the action of a moisture-displacing carrier and to a bindingv material adapted thereby to coat the particles of fuel, substantially as set forth.

4. In a method for treating subdivided fuel materials preliminary to coalescing the same, the step of subjecting the particles thereof while'in moistened condition to the action of filming oil and to a binding material adapted thereby evenly to coat the particles of fuel, substantially as set forth.

5. The method of producing artificial fuel Which consists. in immersing subdividedcarbonaceou'smaterial in Water, adding'to the Water a moisture-displacing filming oil and binding material carried by the oil, agitating the carbonaceous material With the oil-carrier and binder to produce a substantially uniform adherent film upon the particles of carbonaceous material, draining off the excess water, and sub ecting portions of the mass to pressure inducing adhesion thereof, substantially as set forth. 7 I a 6. In a method for treating 'comminuted fuel materials preliminary to briquetting the same, the subjection of the particles thereof While in an aqueous bath to the. action of a filming carrier and to a binding material, together having negligible 'miscibility with Water, substantially as set forth.

7. The method of producing artificial fuel which consists in immersing sub-divided carbonaceous'material in an aqueous bath, adding thereto an adherent oil content With other binding material which together have negligible miscibility withwater, agitating'the carbonaceous material therewith, I draining to induce adhesion of the particles, substan-.

tially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I do now aflix my signature.

HERBERT E. WETHEBBEE. 

